Being a Negro In America Means Trying To Smile When You Want To Cry, It Means Trying To Hold On To Physical Life Amid Psychological Death. It Means The Pain Of Watching Your Children Grow Up With Clouds Of Inferiority In Their Mental Skies. It Means Having Your Legs Cut Off, And Then Being Condemned For Being A Cripple. It Means Seeing Your Mother And Father Spiritually Murdered By The Slings And Arrows Of Daily Exploitation, And Then Being Hated For Being A Orphan. Martin Luther King 1967

As a people we have a lot of healing to
do, and this is what has set us back as a race. Coming out of enslavement there
was no psychiatrist for the race to see. We had gone under the greatest crime
against humanity, and yet we survived which speaks a lot about our ability to
survive. We had no choice but to survive and to see a better way for the
children of that time and tomorrow's children. People didn't treat animals the
way that we had been treated. During reconstruction we were able to make
a better way for ourselves the best that we could. We became over 60% literate
in a very short time in history. No time in history has a people been
able to do such a thing. We were doing things for ourselves that a race had to
do to survive in the belly of the beast.

The chains had been removed from us physically, yet even to
this day we have chains on our minds. Which is what Carter G. Woodson was
saying in his famous quote? Our biggest problem today is, us as a people, not
anything else. We need to not let obstacles get in our way, but climb over them
and use them to make us a better people. We must look at happened to us and
understand the trick that is still being played upon us and to stop the
madness. Some of us are more capable of doing this then others, so I'm speaking
to you, if you're able to read this and to comprehend it, then it is your duty
to yourself and others to stop the madness. It is also your duty to let others
know, how to stop this madness. So let's read these pages to understand what
needs to be done, so we can become a better people.

In this country people are taught to be individuals, and our race is not about
individuality and we must learn to work together collectively. What is all your
wealth, knowledge, and hard work good for, if you're not using it for the
betterment of the people? So let's heal and get on with the building and the
work that needs to be done. The last page was the beginning of the
healing with Amos Wilson, and this page is also about healing. If we don't
allow ourselves to heal, we will continue to allow ourselves to accept our
current status and wear blinders, while our people are dying and
suffering here and in other parts of the world with our complicity. So I ask
that, you look deeper into your soul and spirit and be the people who gave
civilization to the world and to enter in a new civilization.

We need to now take a look at this speech/theory that people say that a slave
owner Willie Lynch gave, for we need to look at ways that we are divided and
overcome these divisions. For if we don't deal with these issues we will be
fulfilling the prophesy of the speech. There are two schools of thought in our
community about this speech. The first one is that it's real and this is why
were in the position we're in today, and regardless of the authenticity we need
to see what was done to us and the reality is, that the speech has a certain
truth to it. The second school of thought is that we need to debunk this Willie
Lynch speech and not allow the speech to divide us and to feed into a hoax that
is being played on us., and we know what divides us and we need to work on
other issues that create divisions among us that are not mentioned in the
speech. We like to present both views, for not to do so, would be misleading
you. So you decide and let's not allow anything to continue to divide us, by
placing light on it and discussing it, we are allow ourselves to heal. Thank
You !

Willie Lynch: "Let's Make A Slave" "The Black slave after
receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self re-fueling
and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands."

Let us make a
slave. What do we need? First of all we need a black nigger man, a pregnant
nigger woman and her baby nigger boy. Second, we will use the same basic
principle that we use in breaking a horse, combined with some more sustaining
factors. We reduce them from their natural state in nature; whereas nature
provides them with the natural capacity to take care of their needs and the
needs of their offspring, we break that natural string of independence from
them and thereby create a dependency state so that we may be able to get from
them useful production for our business and pleasure.

Cardinal Principals Of Breaking A
Negro

For fear that our future generations may not
understand the principles of breaking both horses and men, we lay down the art.
For , if we are to sustain our basic economy we must break both of the beasts
together, the nigger and the horse. We understand that short range planning in economics
results in periodic economic chaos, so that, to avoid turmoil in the economy,
it requires us to have breadth and depth in long range comprehensive planning,
articulating both skill and sharp perception. We lay down the following
principles for the long range comprehensive economic planning:

1) Both horse and niggers are no
good to the economy in the wild of natural state.2) Both must be broken and tied together for orderly
production.3) For orderly futures, special and particular attention
must be paid to the female and the youngest offspring.4) Both must be crossbred to produce a variety and
division of labor.5) Both must be taught to respond to a peculiar new
language.6) Psychological and physical instruction of
containment must be created for both.

We hold the above six cardinals as
truths to be self-evident, based upon the following discourse concerning the
economics of breaking and tying the horse and the nigger together...
all-inclusive of the six principles laid down above. NOTE: Neither principles
alone will suffice for good economics.

All principles must be employed for the orderly
good of the nation. Accordingly, both a wild horse and a wild or natural nigger
is dangerous even if captured, for they will have the tendency to seek their
customary freedom, and in doing so, might kill you in your sleep. You cannot
rest.

They sleep
while you are awake and are awake while you are asleep. They are dangerous near
the family house and it requires too much labor to watch them away from the
house. Above all you cannot get them to work in this natural state. Hence, both
the horse and the nigger must be broken, that is break them from one form of
mental life to another, keep the body and take the mind. In other words, break
the will to resist.

Now the
breaking process is the same for the horse and the nigger, only slightly
varying in degrees. But as we said before, you must keep your eye focused on
the offspring of the horse and the nigger. A brief discourse in offspring
development will shed light on the key to sound economic principles. Pay little
attention to the generation of original breaking but concentrate on future
generations.

Therefore, if
you break the female, she will deliver it up to you. For her normal female
protective tendencies will have been lost in the original breaking process. For
example, take the case of the wild stud horse, a female horse and an already
infant horse and compare the breaking process with tow nigger males in their
natural state, a pregnant nigger woman with her infant offspring.

Take the stud
horse, break him for limited containment. Completely break the female horse
until she becomes very gentle whereas you or anybody can ride her in comfort.
Breed the mare and the stud until you have the desired offspring. Then you can
turn the stud to freedom until you need him again. Train the female horse
whereby she will eat out of your hand, and she will train the infant horse to
eat out of your hand also.

When it comes
to breaking the uncivilized nigger, use the same process, but vary the degree
and step up the pressure so as to do a complete reversal of the mind. Take the
meanest and most restless nigger, strip him of his clothes in front of the
remaining male niggers, the female, and the nigger infant, tar and feather him,
tie each leg to a different horse faced in opposite directions, set him afire
and beat both horses to pull him apart in front of the remaining niggers. The
next step is to take a bullwhip and beat both the remaining nigger male to the
point of death in front of the female and the infant. Don't kill him. But put
the fear of God in him, for he can be useful for future breeding.

The Process Of Breaking Of The African
Woman

Take the female and run a series of test on her to
see if she will submit to your desires willingly. Test her in every way,
because she is the most important factor for good economics. If she shows any
sign of resistance in submitting completely to your will, do not hesitate to
use the bull whip on her to extract that last bit of bitch out of her. Take
care not to kill her, for in doing so, you spoil good economics. When in
complete submission, she will train her offspring in the early years to submit
to labor when they become of age. Understanding is the best thing.

Therefore, we
shall go deeper into this area of the subject matter concerning what we have
produced here in this breaking of the female nigger. We have reversed the
relationships. In her natural uncivilized state she would have a strong
dependency on the uncivilized nigger male, and she would have a limited
protective dependency toward her independent male offspring and would raise
offspring to be dependent like her. Nature had provided for this type of
balance. We reverse nature by burning and pulling one civilized nigger apart
and bull whipping the other to the point of death--all in her presence.

By her being
left alone, unprotected, with the male image destroyed, the ordeal caused her
to move from her psychological dependent state to a frozen independent state.
In this frozen psychological state of independence she will raise her male and
female offspring in reversed roles. For fear of the young male's life she will
psychologically train him to be mentally weak and dependent but physically
strong. Because she has become psychologically independent she will train her
female offspring to be psychologically independent as well.

What have you
got? You've got the nigger woman out front and the nigger man behind and
scared. This is a perfect situation for sound sleep and soundly, for out of
frozen fear, his woman stands guard for us. He cannot get past her early infant
slave molding process. He is a good tool, now ready to be tied to the horse at
a tender age. By the time a nigger boy reaches the age sixteen, he is soundly
broken in and ready for a long life of sound and efficient work and the
reproduction of a unit of good labor force.

Continually,
through the breaking of uncivilized savage niggers, by throwing the nigger
female savage into a frozen psychological state of independency, by killing the
protective image, and by creating a submissive dependent mind of the nigger
male slave, we Have created an orbiting cycle that turns on its own axis
forever, unless a phenomenon occurs and reshifts the positions of the male and
female savages. We show what we mean by example. We breed two nigger males with
two nigger females. Then we take the nigger males away from them and keep them
moving and working. Say the nigger female bears a nigger female and the other bears
a nigger male.

Both nigger
females, being without influence of the nigger male image, frozen with an
independent psychology, will raise their offspring into reverse positions. The
one with the female offspring will teach her to be like herself, independent
and negotiable (we negotiate with her, through her, by her, and negotiate her
at will). The one with the nigger male offspring, she being frozen with
conscious fear for his life, will raise him to be mentally dependent and weak,
but physically strong...in other words, body over mind. Now, in a few years
when these two offspring become fertile for early reproduction, we will mate
and breed them and continue the cycle. that is good, sound, and long range
comprehensive planning.

WARNING: Possible Interloping
Negatives

Earlier, we talked about the non-economic good of the
horse and the nigger in their wild or natural state; we talked out the
principle of breaking and tying them together for orderly production,
furthermore, we talked about paying particular attention to the female savage
and her offspring for orderly future planning; then more recently we stated
that, by reversing the positions of the male and the female savages we had
created an orbiting cycle that turns on its axis forever, unless phenomenon
occurred, and reshifted the positions of the male and female savages.

Our experts
warned us about the possibility of this phenomenon occurring, for they say that
the mind has a strong drive to correct and recorrect itself over a period of
time if it can touch some substantial original historical base; and they advise
us that the best way to deal with this phenomenon is to shave off the brute's
mental history and create a multiplicity of phenomenon or illusions so that
each illusion will twirl in its own orbit, something akin to floating ball in a
vacuum.

This
creation of multiplicity of phenomenon or illusions entails the principles of
cross-breeding the nigger and the horse as we stated above, the purpose of
which is to create diversified divisions of labor. The result of which is the
severance of the points of original beginning's for each spherical illusion.
Since we feel that the subject matter may get more complicated as we proceed in
laying down our economic plan concerning the purpose, reason, and effect of
cross-breeding horses and niggers, we shall lay down the following definitional
terms for future generations.

1. Orbiting cycle means a thing
turning in a given pattern.2. Axis means upon which or around which a body
turns.3. Phenomenon means something beyond ordinary
conception and inspires awe and wonder4. Multiplicity means a great number.5. Sphere means a globe.6. Cross-breeding a horse means taking a horse and
breeding it with an ass and your get a dumb backward ass, long-headed mule that
is not reproductive or productive by itself.7. Cross-breeding niggers means taking so many drops
of good white blood and putting them into as many nigger women as possible,
varying the drops by the various tones that you want, and then letting them
breed with each other until the circle of colors appear as you desire.

What means is this: Put the
niggers and the horse in the breeding pot, mix some asses and some good white
blood and what do you get? You got multiplicity of colors of ass backwards,
unusual niggers, running, tied to backward ass long-hand mules, the one
productive of itself, the other sterile. (The one constant, the other dying. We
keep the nigger constant for we may replace the mule for another tool) both
mule and nigger tied to each other, neither knowing where the other came from
and neither productive for itself, nor without each other.

Controlled Language

Cross-breeding
completed, for further severance from their original beginning, we must completely
annihilate the mother tongue of both the nigger and the new mule and institute
a new language that involves the new life's work of both. You know, language is
a peculiar institution. It leads to the heart of a people.

The more a
foreigner knows about the language of another country, to the extent that he
knows the body of the language, to that extent is the country vulnerable to
attack or invasion of a foreign culture. For example, you take a slave, if you
teach him all about your language, he will know all your secrets, and he is
then no more a slave, for you can't fool him any longer and having a fool is
one of the basic ingredients of and incidents to the making of the slavery
system.

For example if you told a slave that he must perform in getting out 'our
crops' and he knows the language well, he would know that 'our crops' didn't
mean 'our' crops, and the slavery system would break down, for he would relate
on the basis of what 'our crops' really meant. So you have to be careful
in setting up the new language for the slave would soon be in your house,
talking to you as 'man to man' and that is death to our economic system.
In addition, the definitions of words or terms are only a minute part of the
process. Values are created and transported by communication through the
body of the language. A total society has many interconnected value
system. All these values in the society have bridges of language to
connect them for orderly working in the society. But for these bridges,
these many value systems would sharply clash and cause internal strife or civil
war, the degree of the conflict being determined by the magnitude of the issues
or relative opposing strength in whatever form. For example, if you put a
slave in a hog pen and train him to live there and incorporate in him to value
it as a way of life completely, the biggest problem you would have out of him
is that he would worry you about provisions to keep the hog pen clean, or
partially clean, or he might not worry you at all. On the other hand, if
you put this same slave in the same hog pen and make a slip and incorporate
something in his language whereby he comes to value a house more than he does
his hog pen you got a problem. He will soon be in your house.

The Speech

Gentlemen, I greet you here on the bank of the James
River in the year of Lord one Thousand seven hundred and
twelve. First. I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of
Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your
problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation
in the West Indies where I have experimented with some
of the newest and still the oldest methods for control of slaves. Ancient
Rome would envy us if my program is
implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our
illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we cherish, I saw enough to know
that your problem is not unique. While Rome
used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its old highways
in great numbers you are here using the tree and the rope on occasion.

I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree a couple of miles
back. You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having
uprisings, slave are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields
too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, your animals are
killed. Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to
elaborate, I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you
to a method of solving them.

In my bag here, I have a fool proof method for controlling your Black
slaves, I guarantee everyone of you that if installed correctly it will control
the slaves for at least 300 hundred years. My method is simple. Any
member of your family or your overseer can use it.

I have outlined a number of differences
among the slaves: and I make these differences and make them bigger. I
use fear, and envy for control purposes. These methods have worked on my
modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work
throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences, and
think about them. On top of my list is "Age" but it is there
only because it starts with an "A"; the second is "Color"
or shade, there is intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, status on
plantation, attitude of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on the
hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, coarse hair, or is tall or
short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an
outline of action - but before that I shall assure you that distrust is
stronger than trust, and envy is stronger than adulation, respect or
admiration.

The Black slave after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will
become self re-fueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe
thousands. Don't forget you must pitch the old Black male vs. the young Black
male, and the young Black male against the old Black male. You must use
the dark skin slave vs. the light skin slaves and the light skin slaves vs. the
dark skin slaves. You must use the female vs. the male, and the male vs.
the female. You must also have your white servants and overseers distrust
all Black, but it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us, They
must love, respect and trust only us.

Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to
control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never
miss an opportunity. If used intensely for one year, the slaves
themselves will remain perpetually distrustful. Thank you, gentlemen.

Death To The Willie Lynch Speech

By Prof. Manu Ampim

Since 1995 there has been much
attention given to a speech claimed to be delivered by a William Lynch in
1712.This speech has been promoted
widely throughout African American and Black British circles.It is re-printed on numerous websites,
discussed in chat rooms, forwarded as a did you know email to friends and
family members, assigned as required readings in college and high school courses,
promoted at conferences, and there are several books published with the title
of Willie Lynch.[1]In addition, new
terminology called the Willie Lynch Syndrome has been devised to explain the
psychological problems and the disunity among Black people.

Further, it is naively assumed by
a large number of Willie Lynch believers that this single and isolated speech,
allegedly given almost 300 years ago, completely explains the internal problems
and divisions within the African American community. They assume that the Willie Lynch Syndrome
explains Black disunity and the psychological trauma of slavery. While some
have questioned and even dismissed this speech from the outset, it is fair to
say that most African Americans who are aware of the speech have not questioned
its authenticity, and assume it to be a legitimate and very crucial historical
document which explains what has happened to African Americans.

However, when
we examine the details of the Willie Lynch Speech and its assumed influence,
then it becomes clear that the belief in its authenticity and widespread
adoption during the slavery era is nothing more than a modern myth. In this brief examination, I will show that
the only known William Lynch was born three decades after the alleged speech,
that the only known William Lynch did not own a plantation in the West
Indies, that the speech was not mentioned by anyone in the 18th or 19th centuries, and
that the speech itself clearly indicates that it was composed in the late 20th
century.

SILENCE ONLYNCHSPEECH:

The Willie Lynch Speech is not
mentioned by any 18th or
19th century slavemasters or anti-slavery activists.There is a large body of written materials
from the slavery era, yet there is not one reference to a William Lynch speech
given in 1712. This is very curious because both free and enslaved African
Americanswrote and spoke about the
tactics and practices of white slavemasters.Frederick Douglass, Nat Turner, Olaudah Equino, David Walker, Maria
Stewart, Martin Delaney, Henry Highland Garnet, Richard Allen, Absolom Jones, Frances Harper, William Wells
Brown, and Robert Purvis were African Americans who initiated various efforts
to rise up against the slave system, yet none cited the alleged Lynch
speech.Also, there is not a single
reference to the Lynch speech by any white abolitionists, including John Brown,
William Lloyd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips.Similarly, there has been no evidence found of slavemasters or
pro-slavery advocates referring to (not to mention utilizing) the specific
divide and rule information given in the Lynch speech.

Likewise, none of the most
credible historians on the enslavement of African Americans have ever mentioned
the Lynch speech in any of their
writings. A reference to the Lynch
speech and its alleged divide and rule tactics are completely missing in the
works of Benjamin Quarles, John Hope Franklin, John Henrik Clarke, William E.B.
Du Bois, Herbert Aptheker, Kenneth Stampp, John Blassingame, Rosalyn
Terborg-Penn, Darlene Clark-Hine, and Lerone Bennett. These authors have
studied the details and dynamics of Black social life and relations during
slavery, as well as the machinery of control by the slavemasters, yet none
made a single reference to a Lynch speech.

Since the Willie Lynch speech was
not mentioned by any slavemasters, pro-slavery advocates, abolitionists, or
historians studying the slavery era, the question of course is when did it
appear?

FIRST REFERENCE TO LYNCHSPEECH:

The first reference to the Willie
Lynch speech was in a late 1993 on-line listing of sources, posted by Anne
Taylor, who was then the reference librarian at the University of Missouri
at St. Louis (UMSL).[2]She posted ten
sources to the UMSL library database and the Lynch speech was the last item in
the listing.Taylor in her 1995 email
exchanges with the late Dr. William Piersen (Professor of History, Fisk
University) and others interested in the origin of the Lynch speech indicated
that she keep the source from where she received thespeech anonymous upon request, because he was
unable to establish the authenticity of the document.On October 31, 1995, Taylor wrote:

Enough butt-covering, now its
time to talk about where I got it. The
publisher who gave me this [speech] wanted to remain anonymous because he
couldnt trace it, either, and until now Ive honored his wishes. It was printed in a local,
widely-distributed, free publication called The
St. Louis Black Pages, 9th anniversary edition, 1994*, page 8.

[*Taylor notes: At risk of talking down to
you, its not unusual for printed materials to be post-dated  the 1994
edition came out in 1993].[3]

The Lynch speech was distributed
in the Black community in 1993 and 1994, and in fact I came across it during
this time period, but as an historian trained in Africana Studies and primary
research I never took it serious. I
simply read it and put it in a file somewhere.

However, the Lynch speech was
popularized at the Million Man March (held in Washington, DC)
on October 16, 1995, when it was referred to by Min. Louis Farrakhan. He stated:

We, as a people who have been
fractured, divided and destroyed because of our division, now must move toward
a perfect union. Let's look at a speech,
delivered by a white slave holder on the banks of the James
River in 1712... Listen to
what he said. He said, 'In my bag, I
have a foolproof method of controlling Black slaves. I guarantee everyone of you, if installed
correctly, it will control the slaves for at least 300 years So spoke Willie
Lynch 283 years ago.

The 1995 Million Man March was
broadcast live on C-Span television and thus millions of people throughout the U.S. and the
world heard about the alleged Willie Lynch speech for the first time. Now, ten years later, the speech has become
extremely popular, although many historians and critical thinkers questioned
this strange and unique document from the outset.

Full Text of the
alleged Willie Lynch Speech, 1712:

Gentlemen,
I greet you here on the bank of the James River
in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall
thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am
here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation
reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies
where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods
of control of slaves.

Ancient Rome would envy us if my program were
implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River,
named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we cherish. I saw
enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of woods as crosses for
standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers you are here using
the tree and the rope on occasion.I caught the whiff of a dead slave
hanging from a tree a couple of miles back. You are not only losing a valuable
stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your
crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer
occasional fires, your animals are killed.

Gentlemen, you know what
your problems are: I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your
problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them. In my bag
here, I have a fool proof method for controlling your Black slaves. I guarantee
everyone of you that if installed correctly it will control the slaves for at
least 300 hundred years [sic]. My method is simple. Any member of your family
or your overseer can use it.I have outlined a number of differences
among the slaves: and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use
fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes. These methods have worked on my
modest plantation in the West Indies and it
will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences,
and think about them.

On top of my list is
Age, but it is there only because it starts with an A: the second is
Color or shade, there is intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, status
on plantation, attitude of owners, whether the slave live in the valley, on
hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, coarse hair, or is tall or
short. Now that you have a list of differences. I shall give you an outline of
action-but before that I shall assure you that distrust is stronger than trust
and envy is stronger than adulation, respect, or admiration.

The Black slave after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will
become self re-fueling and self generating for hundreds of years, maybe
thousands. Don't forget you must pitch the old Black male vs. the young Black
male, and the young Black male against the old Black male. You must use the
dark skin slaves vs. the light skin slaves and the light skin slaves vs. the
dark skin slaves. You must use the female vs. the male, and the male vs. the
female. You must also have your white servants and overseers distrust all
Blacks, but it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us. They must
love, respect and trust only us.

Gentlemen, these kits are
your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never
miss an opportunity. If used intensely for one year, the slaves themselves will
remain perpetually distrustful. Thank you, gentlemen."

WHOWASWILLIELYNCH ?

The only known William Lynch
who could have authorized a 1712 speech in Virginia was born 30 years afterThe only known William Lynch lived from
1742-1820 and was from Pittsylvania,
Virginia. It is obvious that
William Lynch could not have authored a document 30 years before he was
born!This William Lynch never owned a
plantation in the West Indies, and he did not own a slave plantation in Virginia.

DIVIDE & RULE

The Lynch speech lists a number
of divide and rule tactics that were
not important concerns to slaveholders in the early 1700s, and they certainly
were not adopted.The anonymous writer
of the Lynch speech states, I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves:
and I take these differences and make them bigger.Here is the list provided in the Lynch
speech: age, color, intelligence, fine hair vs. coarse hair, tall vs. short,
male vs. female.

However, none of these tactics
were concerns to slaveholders in the early 1700s in the West Indies or colonial
America. No credible historian has indicated that any
of the items on the Lynch list were a part of a divide and rule strategy in the early 18th century. These are current 20th century
divisions and concerns. Here are the
Lynch speech tactics versus the real divide
and rule tactics that were actually used in the early 18th
century:

DIVIDE&RULETACTICS

LYNCHSPEECH vs.HISTORICALFACTS

Age Ethnic
origin & language

Color (light vs. dark skin)African
born vs. American born

IntelligenceOccupation
(house vs. field slave)

Fine hair vs. coarse hairReward
system for good behavior

Tall vs. shortClass
status

Male vs. femaleOutlawed
social gatherings

It is certain that Willie Lynch did not use his divide and rule tactics on his modest
plantation in the West Indies.

20th CENTURYTERMS IN
LYNCHSPEECH

There are a number of terms in
the alleged 1712 Lynch speech that are undoubtedly anachronisms (i.e. words that are out of their proper historical time
period).Here are a few of the words in
the speech that were not used until the 20th century:

Anachronisms: Fool
proof and Black with an upper-case B to refer to people of African descent
are of 20th century origin.
Capitalizing Black did not become a standard from of writing until the
late 1960s.

Lynch speech:
The Black slave after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will
become self re-fueling and self
generating for hundreds of years.

Anachronism:
Re-fueling is a 20th century term which refers to transportation.

OTHERSTRANGEFEATURES

William Lynch is invited from the West
Indies (with no specific country indicated) to give only a
short eight-paragraph speech.The
cost of such a trip would have been considerable, and for the invited
speaker to give only general remarks would have been highly unlikely.

Lynch never thanked the specific host of his speech,
he only thanked the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me
here.Here, he is rude and shows a
lack of etiquette.Also, no specific
location

for the speech was
stated, only that he was speaking on the bank [sic] of the James River.

Lynch claims that on his journey to give the speech
he saw a dead slave hanging from a tree.This is highly unlikely because lynching African Americans from
trees did not become common until the late 19th century.

Lynch claims that his method of control will work for
at least 300 hundred years [sic].First, it has gone unnoticed that the modern writer of the speech
wrote three hundred twice (300 hundred years), which makes no grammatical
sense.It should be 300 years or
three hundred years.Second, the
arbitrary choice of 300 years is interesting because it happens to
conveniently bring us to the present time.

Lynch claims that his method of control will work
throughout the South.This statement clearly shows the modern
writers historical ignorance.In
1712, there was no region in the current-day U.S. identified as the
South. The geographical region of the South did not become distinct
until a century after the alleged speech.Before the American Revolutionary War vs. Britain (1775-1783) the
13 original U.S. colonies were all
slaveholding regions, and most of these colonies were in what later became
the North, not the South.In
fact, the region with the second largest slave population during the time
of the alleged William Lynch speech was the northern city ofNew York, where there
were a significant number of slave revolts including the rebellion in 1712

Lynch fails to give an outline of action for
control as he promised in his speech.He only gives a simple little list of differences among Black
slaves.

Lynch lists his differences by alphabetical order, he
states: On top of my list is Age, but it is there only because it
starts with an A. Yet, after the
first two differences (age and color), Lynchs list is anything but
alphabetical.

Lynch spells color in the American form instead of
the British form (colour).We are
led to believe that Lynch was a British slaveowner in the West Indies, yet he does not write in British
style.

Lastly, the name Willie
Lynch is interesting, as it may be a simple play on words: Will
Lynch, or Will he Lynch.This
may be a modern psychological game being played on unsuspecting believers?

WHO WROTE THE LYNCH SPEECH?

It is clear that the Willie
Lynch Speech is a late 20th century invention because of the
numerous reasons outlined in this essay.I would advance that the likely candidate for such a superficial speech
is an African American male in the 20s-30s age range, who probably minored in
Black Studies in college. He had a limited knowledge of 18th century
America,
but unfortunately he fooled many uncritical Black people.

Some people argue that it doesnt
matter if the speech is fact or fiction, because white people did use tactics
to divide us.Of course tactics were
used but what advocates of this argument dont understand is that African
people will not solve our problems and address the real issues confronting us
by adopting half-baked urban myths.If
there are people who know that the Lynch speech is fictional, yet continue to
promote it in order to wake us up, then we should be very suspicious of these
people, who lack integrity and will openly violate trust and willingly lie to
our community.

Even if the Willie Lynch
mythology were true, the speech is focused on what white slaveholders were doing, and there is no plan, program, or any agenda items for Black people to
implement.It is ludicrous to give
god-like powers to one white man who allegedly gave a single speech almost 300
years ago, and claim that this is the main reason why Black people have
problems among ourselves today!Unfortunately, too often Black people would rather believe a simple and
convenient myth, rather than spend the time studying and understanding a
situation.Too many of our people want a
one-page, simplified Ripleys Believe It or Not explanation of what happened.

WILLIELYNCHDISTRACTION

While we are distracted by the
Willie Lynch urban mythology, the real issues go ignored.There are a number of authentic first-hand
written accounts by enslaved Africans, who wrote specifically about the slave
conditions and the slavemasters system of control.For example, writers such as Olaudah Equiano,
Mahommah Baquaqua, and Frederick Douglass wrote penetrating accounts about the
tactics of slave control.

Frederick Douglass, for instance,
wrote in his autobiography, Narrative of
the life of Frederick Douglass, that one of the most diabolical tactics of
the American slaveholders was to force the slave workers during their six days
off for the Christmas holiday to drink themselves into a drunken stupor and
forget about the pain of slavery. Douglass wrote, It was deemed a disgrace not
to get drunk at Christmas; and he was regarded as lazy indeed, who had not
provided himself with the necessary means, during the year, to get whiskey
enough to last him through Christmas.From what I know of the effects of these holidays upon the slave, I
believe them to be the most effective means in the hands of the slaveholder in
keeping down the spirit of insurrection.Were the slaveholders at once to abandon this practice, I have not the
slightest doubt it would lead to an immediate insurrection among the slaves .
The holidays are part and parcel of the gross fraud, wrong, and inhumanity of
slavery."

Also, many nineteenth century
Black writers discussed the specific tactics of the white slaveowners and how
they used Christianity to teach the enslaved Africans how to be docile and accept
their slave status.The problem with
African American and Black British revelry during the Christmas holidays and
the blind acceptance of the masters version of Christianity are no doubt major
issues among Black people today.It is
certain that both of these problems were initiated and perpetuated during
slavery, and they require our immediate attention.

Many people who embrace the
Willie Lynch myth have not studied the period of slavery, and have not read the
major works or first-hand documents on this issue of African American
slavery.Further, as indicated above, the Lynch hoax is so widespread that this
fictional speech is amazingly used as required reading by some college
instructors.While we are being misled by this fantasy, the real historical data is being ignored.For example, Kenneth Stampp in his
important work on slavery in the American South, The Peculiar Institution (1956), uses the historical records to outline
the 5 rules for making a slave:

1.Maintain
strict discipline.

2.Instill
belief of personal inferiority.

3.Develop
awe of masters power ( instill fear).

4.Accept
masters standards of good conduct.

5.Develop
a habit of perfect dependence.

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Who can imagine what could be the feelings of a father and
mother, when looking upon their infant child whipped and tortured with
impunity, and placed in a situation where they could afford it no protection.
But we were all claimed and held as property; the father and the mother were
slaves! . . I was compelled to stand and see my wife shamefully scourged and
abused by her master: and the manner in which this was done, was so violently
and inhumanely committed upon the person of a female, that I despair in finding
decent language to describe the bloody act of cruelty. My happiness or pleasure
was then all blasted; for it was sometimes a pleasure to be with my family even
in slavery. I loved them as my wife and child. Little Francis was a pretty
child she was quiet, playful, bright and interesting But I could never look
upon the dear child without being filled with sorrow and fearful apprehensions
of being separated by slave holders, because she was a slave, regarded as
property. And unfortunately for me, I am the father of a slave. . . It calls
fresh to my mind the separation of husband and wife of stripping, tying up and
flogging; of tearing children from their parents, and selling them on the
auction block. It calls to mind female virtue, virtue trampled underfoot . . .
But oh! When I remember that my daughter, my only child, is still there,
destined to share the fate of all these calamities, it is too much to bear. . .
If ever there was any one act of my life while a slave, that I have to lament
over, it is that of being a father and a husband of slaves. Henry Bibb,
1849 (ex-slave)

Dr. Joy Degruy Leary:
What are the impacts of generations of slavery and oppression on a people? In
order to begin to understand the magnitude of this legacy on contemporary African
Americans, it is important to examine the diagnostic characteristics of trauma.
What are the effects of trauma on human beings? What does trauma look like? How
does the trauma manifest itself?

If I shoot someone, says an attendee at one of my lectures, most would agree
that the victim of the shooting would be severely traumatized. A gentleman
seated a few rows away from the victim might be somewhat less traumatized.
Someone walking in the hall that heard the shot could possibly be traumatized.
Some family members of the victim informed about the shooting may be intensely
traumatized, while others very little. There might even be a woman seated next
to the victim who may not experience any symptoms of trauma whatsoever. This is
because human beings react to events differently.

With the destruction of the World Trade
Center in New
York on September
11 2001, many Americans, once again, became familiar with the term
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Lots of citizens were reported to be
suffering from the disorder as a result of witnessing the destruction of those
buildings and the deaths of those trapped inside. At the same time, while most
individuals who repeatedly witnessed the news coverage of the towers toppling
did not seem to suffer any enduring mental or emotional damage, some did.
People do indeed respond to trauma differently.

With what is known about trauma, is it probable that significant numbers of
African slaves experienced a sufficient amount of trauma to warrant a diagnosis
of PTSD? Since there are no living African American slaves today I will have to
hypothesize using current diagnostic criteria.

The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, Revised, describes
features of disorders, reports the conditions which may give rise to them and
lists each disorders symptoms. These all help clinicians with making accurate
diagnoses. However, it is not necessary for an individual to show evidence of
all of the listed symptoms to warrant being diagnosed with a specific illness.

The following are a list of some of the conditions which give rise to mental
and/or emotional traumas that justify the diagnosis of PTSD:

* A serious threat or harm to one life or physical integrity.
* A threat or harm to ones children, spouse or close relative.
* Sudden destruction of one home or community.
* Seeing another person injured or killed as result of accident or
physical violence.
* Learning about a serious threat to a relative or a close friend being
kidnapped, tortured or killed.
* Stressor is experienced with intense fear, terror and helplessness Stressor
and disorder is considered to be more serious and will last longer when the
stressor is of human design.

It is important to note that the manual states that any one of the above
stressors is enough to cause PTSD. So what about African slaves many slaves did
not experience just one of the above stressors; rather, many experienced all of
them! And the great preponderance of slaves were subjected to these traumatic
experiences over and over again! Taking into consideration the fact that slaves
brought to the Americas from Africa were exposed to a lifetime of traumas,
even with the fact that not everyone is traumatized by traumatic events, anyone
with limited astuteness could surmise that a considerable number of African
slaves are likely to have suffered from PTSD.

Today, those who are diagnosed with PTSD exhibit symptoms that may require
clinical treatment inclusive of drug therapy. Some of the symptoms of PTSD
include:

* Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or
external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic
event.
* Physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues.
* Marked diminished interest or participation in significant
activities.
* Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others.
* Restricted range of affect.
* Sense of foreshortened future (in other words, does not
expect to have a career, marriage, children or normal life span.)
* Difficulty falling or staying asleep.
* Irritability or outbursts of anger.
* Difficulty concentrating.
Remember, these are just some of the symptoms that an individual may exhibit
having had direct or indirect exposure to a single traumatic event. What about
those who experienced a lifetime of slavery? What symptoms do you think they
must have exhibited? Today people can get treatment for PTSD. I dont remember
reading about any counseling centers that were set up for freed slaves after
the Civil War. The effects of the traumas were never addressed, nor did the
traumas cease. African Americans have continued to experience traumas similar
to those of our slave past.

Once again, even more impactful than the physical assault on their bodies was
the daily assault on their psyches. Since the capture and transport of the
first African slaves, those brought to these shores had
to deal with systematic efforts to destroy the bonds of relationships that held
them together, as well as continuing efforts to have them believe themselves to
be less than human.

The maintenance of healthy and secure relationships is among the most important
values within the African culture. So what do you think would happen if those
relationships were destroyed and never allowed to fully take root again? If you
were going to devise a uniquely cruel system of punishment, you could never
have devised something more devastating and insidious than American chattel
slavery because it absolutely, categorically destroyed existing relationships
and undermined a peoples ability to form healthy new ones.
Perhaps of greatest impact though, were the daily efforts of the slave owners
and others in authority to break the slaves will. Free will is at the core of
being human. Can you imagine what it must be like to have your will assaulted
on a daily basis? You live in a society that constantly reminds you that you
are no different from livestock and in some cases less valuable. When you
attempt to express yourself, you are beaten down. When you attempt to protect
your loved ones, you are beaten down. You are beaten until you call the
cruelest and most vile man you know Master. And God forbid you attempt to be
educated or think for yourself

As a result of centuries of slavery and oppression, most white Americans in
their thoughts as well as actions believe themselves superior to blacks. Of
greater import, too many African Americans unconsciously share this belief.
This is not surprising, for as I have outlined in Chapter Two, centuries of
repetition and justification have gone into establishing such understanding. It
is from the impacts of past assaults that we must heal, and it is from the
threats of continuing assaults that we must learn to defend ourselves, our
families and our communities.

PASSING DOWN THE EFFECTS OF TRAUMA:

Upon hearing the term Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome some of my readers might
think to themselves, How could African Americans today possibly be affected by
events that occurred so long ago? After all, African Americans are free now! In
fact, they have been free for a long time!

I have often heard European Americans irately say, You know what, I didnt own
slaves, okay? And Im tired of feeling guilty about what happened over a
hundred years ago, so get over it. My response to them is that I am not a
slave now nor have I ever been a slave, and as far as I know, nobody I have
known personally was a slave. The fact is, I dont have any experience of being
a slave. However, 246 years of protracted slavery guaranteed the prosperity and
privilege of the souths white progeny while correspondingly relegating its
black progeny to a legacy of debt and suffering. It doesnt really matter today
if either of us, black or white, directly experienced or participated in
slavery. What does matter is that African Americans have experienced a legacy
of trauma.

What is this legacy? How is it transmitted? The legacy of trauma is reflected
in many of our behaviors and our beliefs; behaviors and beliefs that at one
time were necessary to adopt in order to survive, yet today serve to undermine
our ability to be successful. Remember the stories I told in the introduction?
These are examples of behaviors that have been passed down through generations.
Beliefs can be somewhat harder to see, yet they are there nonetheless. I have a
friend who has been working with teens for the past 14 years in both the
African American community and in the affluent white suburbs. One day we were
discussing the differences in his experiences and he told me, Joy, there is
one major difference between the two groups that I have noticed. Both groups of
teens I have worked with are very capable, both groups are made up of basically
good kids, and both groups have aspirations for their futures. The biggest
difference I have seen is that in their hearts and minds the kids from affluent
families assume they will be successful; the black kids from less affluence do
not make this assumption. When I later reflected on his observations I knew
that in far too many instances he was right. This is reflective of debilitating
beliefs and assumptions that are also part of the legacy of trauma.

The question remains, how are such effects of trauma transmitted through
generations? The answer is quite straightforward. How do we learn to raise our
children? Almost entirely through our own experience of being raised. Most of
us raise our children based upon how we ourselves were raised. Of course there
are things our parents did that we decide well do differently, but for the
most part parenting is one of a myriad of skills that is passed down generation
to generation. What do you think gets passed down through generations if what
was experienced were lifetimes of abuse at the hands of slave masters and other
authorities? What do you think the result would be if generation after
generation of young men were not allowed the power and authority to parent
their own children? What do you think the result would be if education was
prohibited for generations? What do you think the result would be if the
primary skills that mothers teach their children are those associated with
adapting to a lifetime of torture?

Today we know that if a child has an abusive parent, the likelihood that he or
she will grow to be abusive is greater than if that child came from a safe and
supportive home. We know that if a child comes from a violent home, there is a
greater likelihood the child will grow to be violent. We know that if a child
comes from a home in which one or both parents went to college, there is a
greater likelihood that child will go to college. We know that our children
receive most of their attitudes, life skills and approaches to life from their
parents. We also know that most of these are learned by the time they are five
or six years old. What training did children in bondage receive?

James P. Corner writes: The slave family existed only to serve the master and
in order to survive physically, psychologically and socially the slave family
had to develop a system which made survival possible under degrading
conditions. The slave society prepared the young to accept exploitation and
abuse, to ignore the absence of dignity and respect for themselves as blacks.
The social, emotional and psychological price of this adjustment is well known.

In most families the dominant male is the father. Who was the dominant male in
a slaves life? The master was figuratively, if not literally, the father. It
was the master who more often than not became the imprint for male parental
behavior . . . and this imprint was passed down through the generations. At its
foundation, this imprint was dominated by the necessity to control others
through violence and aggression,
While some of what we learn we learn through direct instruction, the bulk of
our learning takes place vicariously, by watching others. The individuals and
families that survived the slave experience reared their children while
simultaneously struggling with their own psychological injuries. They often
exhibited the typical symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The children lived and learned the behaviors and attitudes of their often
injured and struggling parents. Today, we are those children.

In addition to the family, the legacy of trauma is also passed down through the
community. During slavery, the black community was a suppressed and
marginalized group. Today, the African American community is made up of
individuals and families who collectively share differential anxiety and
adaptive survival behaviors passed down from prior generations of African
Americans, many of whom likely suffered from PTSD. The community serves to
reinforce both the positive and negative behaviors through the socialization
process. For example, in the 1940s, families frequently suppressed any signs
of aggression in their children, particularly their male children. It was an
acceptable and expected practice in African American communities to severely
beat unruly boys so they would never make the mistake of standing their ground
with a white person in authority.

While the direct relationship between the slave experience of African Americans
and the current major social problems facing them is difficult to empirically
substantiate, we know from research conducted on other groups who experienced
oppression and trauma that survivor syndrome is pervasive in the development of
the second and third generations. The characteristics of the survivor syndrome
include stress, self-doubt, problems with aggression, and a number of
psychological and interpersonal relationship problems with family members and
others.

Yael Danieli, in the International Handbook of Multi Legacies of Trauma,
explains: The intergenerational perspective reveals the impact of trauma, its
contagion, and repeated patterns within the family. It may help explain certain
behavior patterns, symptoms, roles, and values adopted by family members, family
sources of vulnerability as well as resilience and strength, and job choices
(following in the footsteps of a relative, a namesake) through the generations.
Viewed from a family systems perspective, what happened in one generation will
affect what happens in the older or younger generation, though the actual
behavior may take a variety of forms. Within an intergenerational context, the
trauma and its impact may be passed down as the family legacy even to children
born after the trauma.

This, then, is how the legacy of trauma has been transmitted. Given our
history, should we be surprised that issues of abuse, ineffectual Syndrome
parenting, violence and educational disillusionment, to name a few, continue to
plague African American communities today? Many of these dysfunctional
adaptations can be linked to the crimes visited upon our ancestors.

PRISON:
Since 1980 the number of incarcerated men and women in the United
States has increased between 4 and 500%. In
2004 alone the Federal prison population grew 7.2%. As of June, 2003 the
Federal Bureau of Justice reported there were 2,078,570 prisoners being held in
federal or state prisons and local jails. Half were African American. While African
Americans make up 12% of the general population, we continue to account for
half of the prison population. According to the Bureau, stark differences in
incarceration rates prevail: 1 in 21 black men were in prison as were I in 56
men of Hispanic origin, while only I in 147 white men were behind bars.

If incarceration rates continue their trends, 1 in 4 young black males born
today will serve time in prison during his lifetime, meaning he will be
convicted and sentenced to more than one year of incarceration . . . The per
capita incarceration rate among blacks is 7 times that of whites. . . African
American males serve longer sentences, have higher arrests and conviction
rates, face higher bail amounts, and are more often the victims of police use
of deadly force than white citizens. . . Nationally, for every one black man
who graduates from college, 100 are arrested.

The powers that be would have us believe that blacks are seven times more
likely to commit crimes than whites. Obviously, we still have a long way to go
to be treated equally in the eyes of the law.
Coupled with such severe over-representation of African American males in the
prison system has been the growth of the system itself. Since 1980 prisons have
once again become big business. More and more prisons are being built with
private dollars, and with the privatizing of construction and management has
come increased use of prison labor in the market place.

Today, prisoners are making jeans, sweatshirts, toys and circuit boards. They
make car parts, pack golf balls and do telemarketing. They even take airline
reservations, and all for major corporations as well as the federal government.
For their labor inmates typically receive as little as 30 to 95 cents an hour.
Not only do these companies get labor for well below minimum wage, they get it
without having to pay for unemployment insurance, healthcare, vacations or
pensions. In 2000 80,000 inmates held such jobs. Twenty-one thousand of these
prisoners worked for the federal government, up 14% from 1998. And their
numbers continue to rise.
Sound familiar? Its a kind of convict leasing, though somewhat kinder and
gentler from systems past. While some argue that this may not be all bad, since
prisoners are being productive and getting paid, still one has to wonder when
half the prison workforce is black.

Visions For Black Men

Na'im Akbar: From Maleness To Manhood

The full title for this section should be: From Maleness to Manhood: The
Transformation of the African-American Consciousness, or For Colored Boys Who
Have Considered Homicide When Manhood Was Enough. We presume as a given that
America has been, still is, and very probably will be for a long time to come,
a striving, sturdy racist society. We are aware that from the White House to
the unemployment lines there is clear evidence that racism is still the
American way. We are aware of the continuing atrocities in South
Africa
Our ancient scholars of classical African civilization identified the nature of
the human being as one in a continuous state of change or evolution. The
transformation is not unlike what is seen happening in nature all of the time.
A high pressure area transforms into a thunderstorm. A wind moving at a certain
velocity which gains more velocity from a cool breeze will lead to another kind
of thunderstorm. We know that a worm that crawls on the ground in the form of a
grass-eating caterpillar very soon wraps itself into a cocoon and trans forms,
emerging from a distasteful state as a slimy, hairy worm to become a creature
capable of flying with celestial beauty. Transformation is a process which
characterizes the entirety of the universe around us and it is an implicit part
of the human possibility. The only difference is that the caterpillar will
either have to become a butterfly or die. One of the things about the larva of
the bee is that it either has to become a bee or it will die. One of the
interesting things about the human being is that he can stay a worm forever and
appear to be a thriving form of life. We never have to become human butterflies
to appear alive in this world. One of the things that is unique about the human
being is that he has an option that either he will be or not be. If he chooses
not to be he can die proudly as a slimy, hairy worm.

The point of our discussion is that we need to understand that we all have the
potential to be butterflies. Knowledge is the key to getting where we need to
go. The human being is actually transformed by what he knows, not passively by
just the potential. The human being is transformed by where his mind goes, not
where his body goes. The human being is transformed by his thinking and not by
his eating. The human being is transformed in a very special and unique way.
This message of transformation is essential for the development of
self-determination. In other words, we can see an analogue in the fact that the
caterpillar, while in the worm state, is subject to a wide range of dangers: a
big foot smashing it, contaminated leaves poisoning it, winds that may blow it
off the tree, spider webs that might entrap it and a variety of other
destructive forces. When the worm becomes a butterfly, then flies above the
same foot that tried to stomp it, he uses the winds that used to toss him
around as a vehicle for travel. The very tree that fed him in his undeveloped
form, he now flies over as he feeds from the heights of the heavens.

This picture of the butterfly can tell us whats possible for us as human
beings. The butterfly has much greater control over his survival than does the
caterpillar, who is highly vulnerable. He can make many more choices about
himself than the caterpillar can. Though the butterfly is still subject to
dangers, it is much better equipped to protect itself. The allegory that when
we become men, we are in a much stronger state of self-determination than we
ever were as boys. In this discussion we will talk about the transformation of
the human being as a prototype of the transformation of African consciousness,
moving from the level of maleness to boyness to manness.

WHAT IS A MALE:

What are the characteristics of a male? A male is a biological entity whose
essence is described by no more or no less than his biology. One need not look
beyond the observable anatomical characteristics, primarily the genitals, to
determine that be is a male. This fact of maleness is usually established at
birth with seldom any controversy. Maleness is a predetermined fact of the
biological life which is in no way subject to choice. Now we are aware that
Western scientists are trying to re-engineer that process to make gender a
choice of the parents. Also, each individual could retain the option to change
if he or she so chooses. We know that such innovation is afoot, but for today
maleness can be taken as a predetermined matter of fact.

Maleness is also a mentality that operates with the same principles as the
biology. It is a mentality dictated by appetite and physical determinants. This
mentality is one guided by instincts, urges, desires or feelings. The male
mentality, just like the body, is driven by the relief of tension, the relief
of urges. When it is time to use the bathroom, he doesnt say, Mamma, may I?
He wets on Mamma if shes in the way. When he gets hungry he does not have a
concept that somehow says to him, I am going to eat soon, so I will be patient
and wait. His response is, I want to eat right now! Neither is he very
selective about whether its done at two in the morning or at noon. Those details have little to do with the
compelling appetite that does not have much consideration for a concept of
later. The male mentality is dictated by appetite: I want it when I want
it! Nothing is to interfere with that urgent demand.

It is also driven by passion. Passion is an intense desire for pleasure. There
is no such thing as Im going to be strong and not cry about this thing that is
hurting me, or, Im going to share this thing willingly because Mamma is
saying share it at this time. There is a greed that is driven out of passion,
a passion to receive pleasure. Whatever it is that gives pleasure, the male
wants all of it, all of the time. Another characteristic of this biological
mentality of maleness is its dependency. The male mentality is restricted in
its ability to take initiative and it is compelled to lay in wait for someone
else to take care of its needs. When someone comes along and sticks a nipple in
his mouth, he is then capable of calming down for a moment. The male is not
capable of cleaning himself up, but must wait for someone to come along and
take care of that business for him.
Though he is driven by hunger and greed and an ever- increasing desire for more
and more, he is incapable of doing anything to accomplish these things for
himself. He is, in this mentality, a whining, crying, hungry, and dependent
little leech. Despite the strong descriptive language, this illustration of the
male mentality is not intended to be negative because, as is the case with an
infant, so long as it is appropriate to its stage of development, it is
acceptable and functional. In the same sense, the earliest state of manhood
evolution is appropriately passive, dependent, passion driven, and insatiable
in its desire. In its time, this mentality is not only appropriate, but
instructive. For it is in this stage that the male learns his need to interact
with others and the need to sometimes rely on others and to have the humility
to accept dependence. In its place, the male mentality is of great benefit in
forming the real man. Out of time, it becomes distasteful, destructive, and
deformed.

What is the nature of an entire group whose minds are stuck in the male
stage? Such people have a primary concern of being taken care of. Their cry is:
Feed me, cover my head with a roof, satisfy my biological needs. The emphasis
is on Give it to me. The nature of this mind is one that has to beg. It is a
hungry mind that is constantly wanting more and is constantly getting it by
asking for a handout. They respond with panic when their caretakers withdraw
their resources. They can only scream and cry in despair because they are
incapable of generating any kind of activity that could begin to provide for
themselves. Youve taken my job; youve taken my food; youve taken my stamps;
youve closed down my school. Give it back. .. . Gimme. . . gimme. This mind
operates on a level of instinct and impulse. It strikes out in fear and
considers the consequences later.

When this mind sees something that arouses its interest, it has to pursue it by
beginning to beg, and it doesnt matter who the attractive person might be.
It could be someone elses mate, or even inappropriate members of ones own
family. Desire is in control and nothing else. With this mind on the level of
just a male, there is no kind of choice about whether this is a discriminating
thing to do. There is not the ability to choose whether or not I want to look
at you when its over. There is no ability to alter my desire because, maybe
you smell bad. There is no capacity to respond to provisos or qualifications of
any kind. There is no ability for this mentality to understand that certain
persons or situations may be detrimental to it. It doesnt matter that I might
get shot if I make a pass at you. I never consider, with this mentality, that
your husband may be coming around the corner. No, I am driven by passion so I
reach out and feel you on the behind simply because the passion is driving my
actions. I am just a male. The male defines who he is by the power of his
anatomical protrusion and then further defines the value of what he is by the
volume, the depth, the length, and the activity of that anatomical protrusion.
As a male, one is essentially no more than a dangling piece of flesh located about
three inches below the navel.

These observations are hopefully disturbing to our many chronologically mature
brothers who can find images of themselves characterized in these descriptions
of the male mentality. Our implication is quite clear: If these qualities
represent your predominant mode of interaction, you are almost quite literally
stuck in your worm stage of development. When we see ourselves only as males,
then we operate only as flesh. Sisters must understand, if they use their
female as the bait for males, then they will end up with only malesnot men.
If you permit the worm to be a worm, then you end up only with a worm. You must
demand something more if you want something more.

The level of the male is also the level of the slave. The mind, the mentality
of the male is the mentality of the slave. Look at the slave: hes dependent,
hes passive, hes totally waiting for his biological needs to be taken care of
by someone else. Look at the male and compare him with the slave who delights
in being used as a stud and gains his personal value by his ability to be a
stud. Please understand that the people who developed and implemented the
slave-making process understood some of the basic laws of human nature, and
they understood that they could impede the transforming process. They locked
the slaves into maleness so that they would stay dependent, non-rebellious
and essentially passive in vital areas of human existence. This protected the
master and restrained the slave. This male mentality predominates in people
who are not willing to take the prerogatives and responsibilities of real
manhood.

COMING INTO BOYHOOD:
The next stage in the transformation from the biologically bound definition of
male is the development of the boy. What is it that moves us from the male
to becoming a boy? The movement is determined by the development of discipline.
Discipline transforms passion into a fuel reserve for self-determined action.
The thing that begins to control the dependent, passive, passion-driven
creature into a creature of greater deliberation and higher expression is the
introduction of discipline.

Initially, discipline comes from the outside with someone saying, No, no,
dont do that, and then eventually from the inside when you begin to say to
yourself, This, I am not going to do. The male gradually becomes a boy
through this process. The growth of the capacity to decide to wait and control
the demanding urges within you sets the stage for a new level of
transformation. When the person is able to say to his maleness, Wait and be
still, then he has come to a new level of human power and effectiveness. Once
the mind has become disciplined, the boy is in a position to grow into
reasoning. As the boy becomes rational he begins to toy with ideas because he
should begin to acquire some information about the order of things. He begins
to understand that delay is possible because certain things are clearly
predictable; the world operates in an orderly and predictable fashion. Things
that have happened can and do happen again. As he learns a greater appreciation
for this order, he is also enhanced in his ability to further discipline
himself. Stillness is a prerequisite. It is the external discipline that
compels you to sit it out and wait and see what happens. Then the acquisition
of knowledge expands the capacity to wait.

This new-found rationality is not yet mature reasoning though. Our developing
being is still just a boy and boys are still under the primary influence of the
male mentality. Though there has been the development of some reasoning and
some knowledge, these new resources are only additional armaments in the
arsenal of taking care of the males demands. So, he has begun moving on the
path to becoming rational but only in the sense of being slick. The boy does
not yet have respect for the order of things, but he sees that respecting order
serves his purposes. This interest in order is only for the purpose of getting
what he wants. So, this little boy is nice and reasonable so long as Mommy or
Daddy is about, but as soon as they turn their backs, he sticks his hand in the
cookie jarcontrolled by the persisting influence of the male. So the
discipline becomes an instrument of manipulation rather than genuine
self-navigation, simply because of the fact that his mind is not yet a
developed mind; it is just in the early stages of what we call slick
rationale. The objective of what he knows of reason and order is only to get
what he wants with minimal repercussions of deprivation or hurt.

The boy is also beginning to develop some degree of sentiment. He doesnt want
to hurt people who have been nice to him. He begins to have some feelings for
people around him, but his preoccupation is still one of primarily looking out
for himself. So what does the boy do? The boy gets involved in games. He likes
to play games. He plays games with other people and he plays games with
himself. He likes toys, not real things that begin to move the world, but just
make- believe power, symbolic authority. He likes to play but he does not like
to engage in the productive activity of work. He likes to do things that dont
have very much impact on the world. He likes to tell jokes and be rhetorical,
but not really to redefine the world. He likes to pretend to be deeply involved
when he is only playing. The boys characteristics get manifested in a later
stage as he prides himself in being a player or playboy. Boys have a game
for everybody because they are not in the real Play just yet. They are simply
rehearsing their parts. The boy operates at the level of a gang mentality
(again, a play organization with no genuine power or resourcesjust a game) and
he likes to hang with the gang. He doesnt particularly care about the gang
either, he just wants someone to play with. Its not that hes really even
committed to the gangeven though he may sometimes have to die for itits just
that the gang is fun, and fun is still what he wants.

Now lets look at this same boyish mentality manifest in a more adult body.
These are the brothers who always have a game, a scheme for getting-over on
someone. They are primarily preoccupied with their toys; they like to drive the
flashiest sports cars (even if they are impractical two-seaters, when they have
a family of five); their cars and their homes are equipped with the latest
stereophonic (quadraphonic or even septaphonic) sound system even when the
childrens school supplies are put on hold. Their priorities are seriously
misdirected, as boys choose play things or play clothes rather than obtaining
pressing necessities. The flashy car is just like the little boy on his
tricycle who says, Little girl, want to ride on my bike? You often see these
adult boys leaning all the way to the opposite window in their cars with hats
dropped over their noses, dark glasses (even at midnight), and a designer
sweater that matches the car. Soon we arrive at his pad, and thats what it
is-a launching pad with colored lights hanging down from the ceiling. You go
into the bathroom and a blue light comes up out of the toilet, and it goes on
and on from the ridiculous to the absurd. These assumed luxuries are not in and
of themselves objectionable. The objection is that these men are often
twenty-five, thirty-five, fifty-five, even sixty-five years old, with the
priorities and interests of school boys. They are experts at spending, but only
earn with minimal initiative. They are more interested in impressing the gang
than anything else. Their wardrobes are chosen in preference to the dressing of
their minds or even their own futures. They have no major interest in anything
beyond themselves.

An example of a boy who is arrested in his development is one who has paid more
for his stereo system than he has paid for the books on his shelf. A boy is the
adult who has more colored lights and party space than he has study space or
work space in his home. You are a boy when you pay more for your liquor than
for your food. When your view of women is exclu sively of someone to satisfy
your various needs, then you are a boy. When you are preoccupied with someone
to get-back-at, get-over-on, or get-from, then you are a boy. When the primary
use of your reason is for the purpose of scheming or lying then you are fixated
in the boyish mentality.

There is nothing wrong with a game as a means of disengaging or recreation, but
when the game becomes a substitute for your lifes plan, then you are still a
boy. When other people are laying plans to rule the world and you are playing a
card game, then your boyishness is an illness. When other people are writing
books and youre shooting pool, then the game is a weapon against your progress
and our progress. When you are interested in the football scores and other
people are counting the advertising profits from the football game, then you
have a boys interest. When you spend six hours on the basketball court and
thirty minutes in the library, then the game has become an excuse for suicide.
We have a community full of boys masquerading as men and, as a consequence, the
community is lacking in effective leadership to change the condition of
African-American people. Until we stop playing games and start dealing with the
imperatives of a mans world, we will remain in real trouble.

Many of the problems that we face in our communities can be understood as a
manifestation of this epidemic of boys who should be men. The black-on-black
homicide rates and gang killings are clearly examples of boys playing with
life. The neglect of children by their fathers leading to the plague of
man-absence in our communities is because the boys are off playing rather than
taking care of their responsibilities. The drug epidemic in our communities is
the boyish yearning for a dream world rather than facing the serious matters of
reality. It is not accidental that one of the supreme insults form our
oppressors has been to call us boys. That insult has even more meaning when
you realize that the conditions of this society have conspired to put us in the
position of boys while creating images and circumstances which reward us for
our boyish conduct rather than cultivating the development of black men. To be
called a boy by a white man is the ultimate statement of victory over our
minds. An even worse insult though is for that label to be correct, and our
conduct serving to confirm our preoccupation with boyish things rather than the
objectives of men.

Even though we can show considerable evidence to suggest that our retarded
growth as boys has been scheduled and planned by the history and systems of our
oppression in the West, the fact is that, ultimately, we must take
responsibility for our own development. We have a choice to give up our boyish
conduct and adopt the path to manhood. We must first recognize our confusion about
the definition of manhood and understand that what we are calling man is
either simply males or boys at play.

Those who have arrived at a boyish mentality are, at least, emancipated to some
extent. They are in a position to make some decisions for themselves. They
dont have to go to the bathroom on themselves and then have someone change
their diapers. They are beyond the male in that they are not totally subject to
the immediate demands of the flesh. When you find many of our adults who are
complete babies in taking responsibility for themselves and are unable to
regulate any of their conduct, then you are looking at males who have not even
arrived at boyhood. Our ancestors were very clear on the need to describe what
true manhood was and to provide systematic ways to cultivate the growth of
males into boyhood and ultimately into manhood. They had clear definitions of
Men and did not permit the confusion of fads and fashions to obscure these
definitions.

EMANCIPATED MINDS:
Emancipated minds are ones that have been able to leave the plantation of
maleness, but have not achieved true man hood. They are not unlike those
historical ancestors who achieved emancipation, but not liberation, and found
them selves returning to the plantation for their former masters to take care
of them. So what does this mean in contemporary terms? This means that many of
our brilliant and well degreed brothers with training from Americas
finest institu tions of higher learning are incapable of thinking or operating
beyond the perimeter of the plantation. They are locked into a plantation mind.
If you come to them and suggest that we might consider some alternative ways of
looking at things, they fall back on looking to the traditional experts to
legit imize the new thinking. They cannot think in terms other than the terms
of European-American experts. If you intro duce a new concept, they want to
know where it came from. If you tell them that it came from your insides, from
the legiti mate reality of your own experience (that you actually share with
them), then they are skeptical. Where do you think the Europeans got their
concepts from, if not from their experi encesor at least applied concepts from
other people to their experiences. The non-liberated (simply emancipated) mind
prefers the European-American reality to the African-Ameri can reality. We
dont trust the reality and the legitimacy of our own experiences because we
got emancipated, not liberated, and we are still not men.

The emancipated boys are still basically materialists. These boys define their
power by the amount of materials they are able to acquire. They have credit
cards with every major department store and bank. They find themselves
manipulat ed by the constant change of fashions. In fact the fashion industry
is perpetuated by keeping boys changing their wardrobes because they think they
are free when they are manipulated by the ever-changing winds of the fashion
and advertising world.

There are real restrictions on the boy. He is a servant, even though he may not
be a slave as a male clearly is. There is a difference in the slave and the
servant. The servant is one who gets some compensation for his efforts and who
is not working totally against his will. Both the servant and the slave do not
belong to themselves because they are owned by the influence of someone else.
The boy is economically a servant; he owns nothing of genuine significance
which can change the course of social events. Boys seldom consider developing
independent resources or even spending those resources with each other, because
the boys mind makes him take it all home to Daddy. Boys have to take it back
to where it came from because they are incapable of controlling it themselves,
In this boyish man, with the male influence, we are constantly depending on
someone elses information for our own advancement.

TRANSFORMATION FROM BOY TO MAN:

How do we get from being a boy to becoming a man? The thing that moves us
from the male to the boy is discipline that frees the boy from being the slave
of his male. Learning to exercise control over ones self is transformation
energy. The force that transforms the person from being a boy to becoming a man
is knowledge. The boy takes his budding rationality and uses it to expand his
consciousness. In fact, it is critical that he should be guided in the use of
his yet immature reasoning, so that it doesnt get entrapped in the form of the
boyishness which we have discussed above. This is why good teachers, fathers,
brothers, and uncles are so important. They are the instruments of guidance
which help the boys move towards manhood. So many of our young men get arrested
in the boyhood stage of development because they are improperly guided and end
up being led away to prison or carried away to the cemetery. Consciousness is a
natural possibility or potential, but it must be tended and guided in order for
it to develop properly.

What is consciousness? Consciousness is awareness. What is awareness? Awareness
is the ability to see accurately what is. Being able to see accurately means
that one must be properly oriented in space, time, and person, which means that
the prerequisite for consciousness is to have some accurate image of ones self
and the world in which one finds himself. What is the procedure for gaining
this kind of information? The most effective way to gain proper orientation is
to be thrown into the center of the arena of life. Learning about ones self
comes from the confrontation of problems and the development of solutions for
those problems. As you face real problems, you are forced to either sink or
swim. If you sink then you fail to make the transformation or you must be
rescued by someone who can swim. If you swim, then the first lesson is passed.
This simply means that the process of educating our boys requires that we
require of them to tackle real life problems and watch them find solutions.
They should have early work responsibilities, management responsibilities, and
social responsibilities. These responsibilities force the muscles of growth to
develop. As the boy begins to take on these responsibilities, he begins to
discover the fullness of his potential and can then move to ever-increasing
higher horizons. If his energies are only directed towards fun and games, jokes
and play, then he continues to recycle in that dimension and there is no growth
possible.

In order to discover the potential of your bigger self, you must jump into the
water of husbandhood (not just engage in shacking because it is a game and
fails to take full responsibilities for your actions). One can learn only if he
takes full responsibility and deals with the consequences of his actions.
Shacking offers a trap door. Though marriage is escapable, one does not escape
without learning a thorough lesson in decisions, actions, and consequences. So
learning occurs even in a failed marriage. Shacking lets you play the husband
game without being a real husband, and this is the way of the boys.

A man must understand that his decisions are binding and there is real import
to real decisions. Marriage is such an important lesson in manhood development.
It is no wonder that every society requires some form of it. You will never
learn the role of husbanding until you decide to be a husbandnot a roommate, a
husband. You have got to know what it means to be with this person (for better
or worse) and not be able to get away on just a whim. You have got to
experience the kind of instructional pressure that comes from being bound with
a person socially, legally, spiritually, and psychologically. The legal paper
is not the key to helping you grow. into a man, the key is learning the meaning
and responsibility.

that goes with commitment. It is the commitment that begins to cultivate you.
It begins to bring down the rain to the soil and requires things of you to
handle the droughts. Because you have decided to be a real husband, you can
begin to grow as a man and this causes the consciousness to expand. You begin
to discover muscles you didnt know you had. You begin to understand that you
can share yourself and not only be concerned about yourself. You begin to
understand that your concern about people can be bigger than the concern about
your own needs. When you are able to spread your sentiments to include more
than just yourself, then you are growing into manhood.

After you have put yourself fully into being a husband, then you will want to
throw yourself into something else. This new level of activity is fathering.
Now your manhood has a real challenge to stimulate its growth. You must face a
full day of work and then, at two in the morning, a baby yells out and awakens
the entire house. Despite the fact that you ache with exhaustion you begin to
understand that you are a father now. When the doctor announces that the little
one has an ear infection, you understand that you have another set of ears, and
tbe pain in the little ears becomes your pain. The developing man who is now a
father learns that he must keep milk in the refrigerator as well as gas in the
car. Putting food in the babys stomach shows that not only can you move today
but also tomorrow you have a responsibility much larger than the limitation of
this moment. it is through that experience with fatherhood that you come to
know not only an expanded sense of mortal time, but you can begin to know big
time. You can glimpse immortality as you look into tomorrows eyesthe eyes of
your young offspring. You can peep into tomorrow, today, through those little
eyes that you have fathered. You will be able to transcend the limitations of
this state by being able to expand yourself in time. As a father, you can make
a contribution to a time not yet born. Thats what fathering does for you.

So the reality of these living experiences expands your consciousness. Though we
have used the strong examples of family life which are rather universal in
their occurrence, the same consequence merges from any application of ones
self to real-life problems. As you apply yourself to addressing these problems,
then you are really growing into a man. Once you understand responsibility,
learn to think bigger than just yourself, and learn to control and change
influences for the benefit of a self thats bigger than your individual
anatomy, then you have outgrown boyhood. Preparation for manhood prepares us
for leadership. You are prepared to lead a big community when you learn to lead
a little community. You have got to learn to lead your personal community. You
must first be a king in your personal kingdom. If you cant rule the kingdom on
your feet, you cant lead a bigger kingdom.

It is important to understand that, as African men, we have been taken out of
our own minds and put into this insane mind, which is the mind of either a boy
or just a male. The mind of a real man begins to breed a kind of
consciousness that propels people into a higher realization of who they are.
When we come into being who we really are, then we can relate to men as
fellow-men. We dont have to deal with the kind of madness that separates
people anymore. Men can begin to relate to women with an appreciation for their
womanhood. Men who have come into a consciousness of who they are in terms of
their true identity, in terms of their true capacities for knowledge and
consciousness, are able to move and to change the world. Men who know
themselves in their true identity will not bring about the kind of fatal
divisions and distinctions that have managed to destroy us as a people. Just
imagine where we would be if DuBois and Garvey could have gotten together. Just
imagine where we might be DuBois and Booker T. could have gotten together.

Just suppose Elijah Muhammad and Martin Luther King, Jr. could have
gotten beyond those surface differences that separated them and united their
skills for the salvation of our people. What if Elijah and Martin could have
sat down together and Elijah would have said, Lets do something for
ourselves, and King would have replied, We shall overcome! If they could
have held hands and taken off they could have really changed Chicago,
changed Atlanta and changed America.
Our communities are weaker today because these great and powerful minds could
not come together. How powerful we would be now if Jesse Jackson and Farrakhan
could have stayed together after they came together. Our leaders must come
together. It can only be done when those people who take on the responsibility
of leadership have initially taken on the mentality of a man which does not
get blinded by deceptive divisiveness.

Each leader must take responsibility for his own growth and we must
require such growth as a prerequisite for leadership. Leaders must understand
that their man consciousness sees the problem as bigger than their male or
boy consciousness. Leaders must understand that their commitment is not just
to a small me, but to a much bigger us. We must struggle to find a point of
communality despite the contrived differences which appeal to our boy rather
than to our man. We must confront ourselves and try to. move beyond our
boyishness and maleness and come into our mannishness.

Men naturally develop a strong community interest because they understand that
community is family. When there is no community interest, then there are
ghettoes of decay. Landlords may not paint the walls, but men will clean the
sidewalks and prevent the children from writing on the walls. Community
interest will permit us to transform what ever we have into what we want. This
is the mind of a man. This mind is one of transformation and responsibility. We
must begin to generate the consciousness of responsibility so that nobody in
the community is without awareness of the problem or without a commitment to
its solution. We should have a sense of responsibility for every child, every
adult, every man and woman. Then there would be no rape, molestation, child
abuse or murder. Men can change communities if they change themselves. This
cannot be done unless we come into a true man consciousness and put our male
and boy behind us. Men can develop independent schools. Men can develop
independent thought. Men can develop proper security and control for their
communities. Men will learn the difference between love and romance and teach
even the romantics the difference.

The man consciousness grows into a God-consciousness. The God-consciousness
expands to its fullest capacity in projecting the highest aspirations for the
human being. This God- consciousness is not about religion in the popular
sense, because it is non-denominational and non-sectarian. God-consciousness
has little to do with going to church, to the mosque or to the synagogue. Those
visits may make us feel God, but they dont grow us into creatures made in
the image of God as we have been taught. This kind of consciousness that grows
from being a man helps us to understand that the Creator laid out a plan in
the structure of the universe. This order moves the earth at its consistent
speed and posture through out time, never losing momentum or velocity. This
plan maintains the perfect order and form of the seasons; it changes the winds,
directs the tides, schedules the eruption of volcanoes, shakes the earth at the
point of its geological flaws, and causes all forms of life to transform and to
grow. This infinite plan also includes man. The Creative Force that can program
such phenomena with such precision can also design your mind so that it must
return to order. There is then no doubt that we can achieve what is defined in
our potential. Whatever you can understand, you can be; whatever you project,
you can become. The sabotage of our manhood did not destroy the plan, nor our
capability to retrieve it. It simply requires us to take the responsibility to
let be what was to be from the beginning.

We were a people who gave the world the hymn of human liberation, not just a
freedom song. Liberation is something that must happen to the soul of the human
being, not just to our minds or bodies. Our ancient ancestors understood the
beauty of a liberated soul, which is why we could sing like nobody else the
songs of human possibility. This faith in the human potential fueled us in our
development of human civilization, human religions, and concepts of human
growth. This indigenous faith in humanity and knowledge of God gives the power
to take even alien concepts of religion and convert them to our own. Europeans
came with Christianity and we constructed a theology that now has them trying
to be born again. When they talk about being born again, they are saying, I
want to be like the children of Africa. Though we were
imprisoned by Christianity in many ways, we transformed it and made it do for
us what it was not intended to do. The Arabs came with Islam. We took it and
built Timbuktu. Males are only
capable of sight-seeing. As reality moves by, they observe it from a distance
with a hand extended, hoping for a handout. Boys have dreams. They dream, they
think, they wonder, they build unreal worlds in their minds. Only men have
visions and visions become the instrument of human collective societal
transformation. If you want to be who you are, then be a man and the world will
be transformed by you.

The Process By Which Captives Were Obtained On African Soil Was Not Trade At All. It Was Through Warfare, Trickery, Banditry And Kidnapping. When One Tries To Measure The Effect Of European Slave Trading On The African Continent, It Is Very Essential To Realise That One Is Measuring The Effect Of Social Violence Rather Than Trade In Any Normal Sense Of The Word. Walter Rodney